Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. I want to thank the gentleman for his work in this area for a long time over the years to try to end these out-of-step programs that we have in the agricultural field. Let me just correct something that was said before. It was said that we're in this position because of Brazil, because of the practices that they're doing. No. It's because our own agricultural policy--in this case, our cotton subsidies--is trade distorting. Nobody can stand up in this body or on this floor and make a case otherwise. Nobody can stand up with a straight face and say that our cotton program that we have is not trade distorting. That's why we're in this problem. That's why Brazil was able to take this case to the WTO, and the WTO ruled in their favor--because we have trade distorting farm policies. That's what we need to fix. That's the intent of this amendment. There was an amendment last night by Congressman Kind that will be voted on later today. I may not and likely will not call for a rollcall on this one so that people can focus on that one. The Kind amendment limits payments to Brazil. If we do that, then we can force a change in our own policy, and we can force that issue better than perhaps any other amendment right now. So that's what I would encourage people to vote for, is the Kind amendment, when it comes to a rollcall later.…”